I looked around, scared. It was too good to be true, the paranormal energy was gone, and our household could get back to normal. Skepticism lurked inside me for good reason. After Roger’s death, I thought it was all over, only to find out it was merely lying dormant waiting for a new host to jump into. That host being me.
Pitying myself for a minute I walked in and started making sandwiches for the kids. A deep sense of gratitude came over me as I thought of them. They liked the crust cut off their sandwiches, so I appeased them and began slicing away the little edges.
Cleo’s loud booming lungs called out as she swung the door open and entered with big stomps.
“Honey, I’m home!” she said as she grinned from ear to ear. I was glad my frustrated snapping hadn’t affected her too much. With her bounding in the door with all her buoyant energy, I figured it hadn’t.
Dusty followed behind looking a little weary and Amber I knew to be working at the bookstore. I frowned, there was one missing. “Hello, my loved ones. Where’s my Robbie?”
“He’s here already. I saw him playing around the back. I think he’s making a firepit.”
I rinsed off my hands, confused as to why he didn’t come home on the same bus as his brother and sister. Making a firepit? We already had a fire pit. There was no need for another one.
I walked through to the back of the house and found Robbie with a large tree branch making circles on the ground.
“Robbie, what are you doing darling? Did you come home on a different bus from your sister?”
“Nope. I walked.” His quiet little voice shocked me with its answer.
“You walked home? No way! That’s a long way.”
“No, it’s not. I cut through the forest; it didn’t take me long. I like it there. I met lots of people along the way.” Robbie looked up at me for a moment and I noticed a stye on his eye, noting with a shiver there were no people in the forest.
Maybe he was imagining things… he’s a kid after all.
“Oh no, you’ve got a little stye on your eye right there. I’m going to have to get some cream to get that off. Are you feeling, okay? A little tired or something?” I asked him, staring at him with motherly concern. Styes usually showed up when somebody was tired and maybe Robbie was suffering in silence and not telling me.
Amber ~ Chapter Ten
“She’s what? No way! I didn’t even know Emmitt had a sister.” I was at my second home; the bookstore, and Harry was explaining to me who Anna was.
“Yup. She’s the estranged sister of the deceased. They stopped talking years ago, apparently. There was some sort of huge family feud going on. It doesn’t get any better than this. Clare is going to have a field day with this story.” Harry chuckled as his belly shook.
“I cannot believe what is going on in this town. It’s getting worse. There, it’s done, Harry. All the discounted 99 cent books are now in the system.”
“Good job. Everything all good at the house after the second round from the priest?”
Sighing, with a looming dread running through me that it wouldn’t hold, I shrugged.
“So far so good. Let’s see what the future brings. With all that’s gone down on those grounds, I don’t know how it can be this easy.”
“I tend to agree with you, and we still don’t know who or what was actually doing the calling.”
“Right. Can’t find out now because it’s gone. Not that I’m complaining about that,” I quickly added that part because I didn’t want to find out any other way other than from my own process of elimination.
“No, of course not. Tell your mother about her newest neighbor. I think she’ll get a kick out of it.”
“Ugh. I don’t want to, but I know the opening is next week. I feel like I have to go. I want to see the place, get a feel for it.”
“You are turning into a town sleuth. This might be a good story for you. You never know how things work out. There’s a little job running at the Echo Creek News, maybe you could submit a column.” Harry stroked his chin, as he did whenever he came up with a new idea or was thinking hard about something.
“I might. I do like a mystery. I just don’t like it if it involves my family being killers.”
“Indeed. That’s a little tougher now, isn’t it? Luckily, we know her truth.”
I waved and left Harry in the bookstore. By the time I got home, everyone was chattering away at the table and eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
“Wahhh! Where’s mine? I like my crusts cut off too, Mom,” I whined at her as I slipped my hands around her waist with a smile.
She hugged me back tight. “You are too old for crusts cut off, but there’s plenty of ingredients there so help yourself to something to eat.”
“The service around here is disgraceful,” I teased as Cleo laughed at me and I ruffled the hair on top of her head.
Things seemed to be getting back to normality in many ways. I sparked up as I remembered what Harry told me.
“So, guess what Mom?” I said excitedly as I sliced a couple of pieces of bread off the loaf.
“What is it?”
“The lady who’s looking to buy the old manor is the long-lost sister of Emmitt.”
Mom sucked in a sharp breath. “Mark my stars. Lordy.” Just the response I yearned for. The same thing I felt inside. The town scandals were ramping up, maybe people would switch their attention to them and not us now.
“Yep,” I nodded. “It’s about to get real crazy up in Echo Creek.” I slapped some mustard on my sandwich, adding some ham off the bone and a couple of slices of tomato.
“About to? Sheesh kid, it’s already crazy enough, in this house alone,” she muttered. I gave my mother a lingering look, her face appeared less dull, there was brightness back in her cheeks and her hair was done up nicely.
“Are you feeling better?” I questioned as we stood a little away from the table where everybody was laughing at Dusty goofing off.
“I am. Much better. Let’s hope it lasts. I don’t have the faintest idea what to do about the priest, though. Did I tell you I saw Clare?” she added in a low voice.
“What about?”
“I wanted to fish around and see if there was any word around town about the priest.”
“She would know. What’d she say?”
“She admitted that she thinks he was doing something to the kids.”
“No way! That makes me sick. How can we stop him?”
“I don’t know, hun. I don’t know.” Mom wiggled her toes as she looked down at them. A knock from down the hallway caused me to look up abruptly.
“Hear that?” I asked her. Apparently, I was the only one who heard it.
“No,” she replied, looking confused. “What was it?”
“I think it came from Robbie’s room. Let me go check.” I peeked my head in the door of Robbie’s room and he was lying on his bed reading a book. “Hey, buddy! You’re all in here on your lonesome. Are you doing alright?” I’d determined that Robbie was the quiet one of the family, and being an introvert myself, I understood his need for space and quiet time.
“I’m fine. I’m just reading a book.” He didn’t look fine. He looked a little sad.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” I asked as I stepped into his room and sat down on his bed. “You can tell me if you don’t want to tell the others.”
Mom came in behind me just as I was about to get the blood out of the stone that was Robbie. She pointed past his head to his Superman poster that was hanging down a bit.
“That’s what I wanted to remind you about, Robbie. Your poster looks like it’s about to fall. Do you want some tacky stuff to put it back up?”
His eyes fell away from her to his book for a moment. “Sure.”
“Wait. What’s that mark behind it? Did you mark up the wall, Robbie? I’m trying to keep this house halfway decent in case we want to sell it down the line,” she semi scolded him.
Robbie jumped from the bed and lifted the
dog ear of the poster up. “No, it’s fine. If you give me the tacky stuff, I can do it.” The sharp, defensive way he leaped up surprised me as I looked at the poster again, and Robbie’s hand dropped away. There was black crayon behind it.
“Robbie, what is going on? What’s the black crayon?”
I got up and moved to the other side of the poster and peeled it back as Robbie tried to grab my wrists to stop me. “No! Stop!”
“Robbie,” I struggled with him and snatched my hand back. “Get off me! What are you hiding?” I demanded as I stripped the poster back to reveal a seven-pointed star with black squiggly crayon on top.
Kill them all. Kill them all Robbie. I will help you.
Deeply sickened, I held my belly because what I saw was about to make me throw up. I managed to compose myself as my mother collapsed to the ground grasping around for stability.
“Robbie-Robbie, what the heck is that?” I pointed to the wall.
“Robbie, my boy, why would you do it? Why, after everything we’ve been through,” Mom cried beckoning with her hands.
Robbie stood in cold silence as his pupils changed color. I swore I saw them change color. There was no movement from him for a minute. He just stood there and rapidly blinked several times, giving Mom a forced robotic smile, as I kept looking at the death threat on the wall.
“It talks to me. It’s my friend. I didn’t do it. The Calling did it. It told me what to write. Don’t worry Mom. I won’t kill you. I know how to talk to it.”
THE END
***
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